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Views from the Choir Loft

Trimmings on Advent

Veronica Brandt · November 30, 2013

Advent Wreath HE FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT marks an increase in tempo in most families. The shops are well into the swing of the silly season, the calendar is littered with end of year parties and concerts and Christmas cards begin to appear.

Once, or so I’m told, there were many popular feast days kept all around the year. Now it seems that they all telescope into the month of December. We have St Nicholas’ Day on the 6th, the Immaculate Conception on the 8th, St Lucy on the 13th, each with amazing possibilities for special food and minor rituals. Then there are Advent calendars, Jesse Trees and nativity scenes to consider.

Fisheaters gives a good Advent Overview, but like all customs it is worth bearing in mind that many of these are trimmings. These are not the essentials. There is a lot of latitude for finding our own family’s balance at this time of year.

The photo is our advent wreath for this year. Instead of our usual conglomeration of greenery from the garden we have a synthetic substitute. Much more compact but lacks the fun of dried leaves catching on fire during the family rosary. If this one burns it will smell awful.

How do you keep Advent?

(Happy St Andrew’s Day too!)

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Veronica Brandt

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. She lives near Sydney, Australia, with her husband and six children.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    Hymn by Cardinal Newman
    During the season of Septuagesima, we will be using this hymn by Cardinal Newman, which employs both Latin and English. (Readers probably know that Cardinal Newman was one of the world's experts when it comes to Lingua Latina.) The final verse contains a beautiful soprano descant. Father Louis Bouyer—famous theologian, close friend of Pope Paul VI, and architect of post-conciliar reforms—wrote thus vis-à-vis the elimination of Septuagesima: “I prefer to say nothing, or very little, about the new calendar, the handiwork of a trio of maniacs who suppressed (with no good reason) Septuagesima and the Octave of Pentecost and who scattered three quarters of the Saints higgledy-piddledy, all based on notions of their own devising!”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Introit • Candlemas (2 February)
    “Candlemas” • Our choir sang on February 2nd, and here's a live recording of the beautiful INTROIT: Suscépimus Deus. We had very little time to rehearse, but I think it has some very nice moments. I promise that by the 8th Sunday after Pentecost it will be perfect! (That Introit is repeated on the 8th Sunday after Pentecost.) We still need to improve, but we're definitely on the right track!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplified Antiphons • “Candlemas”
    Anyone who desires simplified antiphons (“psalm tone versions”) for 2 February, the Feast of the Purification—which is also known as “Candlemas” or the Feast of the Presentation—may freely download them. The texts of the antiphons are quite beautiful. From “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium” you can hear a live excerpt (Mp3). I'm not a fan of chant in octaves, but we had such limited time to rehearse, it seemed the best choice. After all, everyone should have an opportunity to learn “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium,” which summarizes Candlemas.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“We know that originally the offertories of the repertoire included a series of verses, just like the introit and the communion, but generally more ornate. Many of these are musical compositions of great beauty. They quickly fell into disuse, and we find them only in the most ancient manuscripts. The only remaining trace of this older arrangement in our present-day liturgy is that of the offertory of the Requiem Mass.”

— Dom Joseph Gajard (1956)

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